


Happily Ever After

by Merlinites



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Cute, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Kissing, Love, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-16
Updated: 2014-04-16
Packaged: 2018-01-19 14:19:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1472929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merlinites/pseuds/Merlinites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uther informs Morgana of her impending marriage to an old lord.<br/>As a result, Morgana asks a certain someone for her first kiss. She would rather it be with someone she truly loves than someone she does not know at all.<br/>But are they both being entirely honest about their feelings for each other?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happily Ever After

**Author's Note:**

  * For [clotpolesonly](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=clotpolesonly).



“You’re marrying him, Morgana, and that’s final. I am your guardian.”

Morgana couldn’t believe the words escaping Uther Pendragon’s mouth. She _would not_ marry some old lord just to please him.

“My father would not want this for me!” she argued.

Uther narrowed his eyes, his crow’s feet deepening. “When your father entrusted me with your care, he also placed his trust in my judgement.”

Morgana huffed. “I do not love him!”

Uther actually rolled his eyes at this. Morgana couldn’t believe it.

“Not everything is about love, Morgana. You have let your bedside stories get into your head. Now, leave me. You are beginning to try my patience. This discussion is over.”

Spinning on her heel Morgana swept out of the throne room with all the grace of a queen. Head held high for all of one minute, Morgana barely made it down the hall before bursting into tears. She didn’t want to marry some lord twenty years her senior, just for Uther’s political gain. He claimed that a marriage would assure a placid future with the neighbouring kingdom, but there had not been conflict between the two for years. Uther was simply once again demonstrating his immense control over everything and everyone in his life, and this time it was Morgana bearing the brunt of his egotistical warpath.

Morgana was simply content with the fact that she had somehow made it to a small dark hallway where no one would be witness to her shame. That content flew out the window the moment she heard someone say her name.

“Morgana,” Merlin repeated.

Why did it have to be _Mer_ lin who saw Morgana like this. Who saw her kneeling on the floor, no grace, all tears, and as weak as a newborn deer. Of course, the world had not only brought an unwanted marriage upon her head, but the true owner of her heart to see her like this, as well. Today was not Morgana’s day.

She lifted her head, surreptitiously wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her dress. She was probably ruining the fabric by doing so, but by that point, she could not care less.

“Merlin?” she asked, not one hundred percent sure it _was_ Merlin, since the sheen of tears in her eyes made her vision extremely blurry.

The servant crouched in front of her. “It’s me, Morgana. Whatever is the matter?”

“I do not want to speak of it here,” she replied softly, little hiccups breaking up her words.

Merlin gently clasped her elbow. “Gaius is out. You can come back to my chambers and we can talk there, if you want.”

He smiled warmly, and Morgana felt her heart breaking all over again. She nodded, and he helped her to her feet.

They made their way to Merlin’s rooms in silence, drawing the gaze of servant and lord alike. Morgana was intent on ignoring them. They had no place in her private life, anyways. When Merlin finally shut the door behind them, she slumped into a comfortable looking chair, head in her hands.

Merlin sat across from her, on a low table. “Do you want to speak of it, my lady?”

Not daring to look at him, Morgana informed Merlin of her predicament.

“And Uther doesn’t _care_ , Merlin. He just doesn’t care that he’ll be pawning me off to some old man who’ll – who’ll – oh, I cannot even bear to think of it.”

She turned away in shame, cheeks flaming.

“Nor can I,” Merlin replied, so softly Morgana wasn’t even sure if he had said the words.

“Merlin,” Morgana breathed. “May I ask a favour of you?”

Merlin nodded, grasping her hand. “I would do anything in my power for you, my lady. You know that.”

Before the embarrassment of what she was about to ask of him could consume her, Morgana said: “I want you to kiss me, Merlin.”

Merlin’s head turned to the side, and his brow furrowed. “You want me to kiss you?” he repeated.

Morgana nodded. “Yes. You see…” she paused. “I’ve never been kissed before, and I don’t want the experience tainted by – by – by some man I don’t even _know_. I would just prefer to kiss a friend. Someone I care about. Do you understand, Merlin?”

Her heart beat wildly in her chest. She hoped that he could understand. She was not lying. Morgana _had_ never been kissed. But it wasn’t only because Merlin was a friend that she wanted her first kiss to be with him. It was because, against everything she had been taught, Morgana had feelings for Merlin. She had fallen for a servant. And she had wanted to kiss him for the longest time, and had never seen reason to and although the life laid out before her would be horrid … at least now she had a reason to kiss Merlin. At least she would know the feel of his lips on hers before she would never see him again. At least she could finally be with him, if only for a moment.

Merlin nodded slowly. “I do understand.”

It felt as if a weight had been lifted off Morgana’s shoulders. _He understood_.

He looked around the room, gaze refusing to settle on her. “When, uhm, when did you want this … kiss to happen?”

She smiled devilishly. Her plan had worked. “Right now, Merlin.”

He looked at her then, blue eyes wide. Another smile formed on her red lips. Merlin ran a hand through his hair, messing it up in the way that Morgana so loved. And then they were both leaning forward and suddenly there was barely any distance between them. Morgana looked into his eyes and nodded, and Merlin’s lips were on hers.

She threaded her fingers through his hair, just as she had always wanted to do. One of his hands rested on Morgana’s waist, and the other on her hip. When she started to feel restless, she rose from her place on the chair and leaned in closer to his warmth. Surprising herself, she found that she wanted to settle one leg on either side of his frame, but her floor length gown wouldn’t allow it. So she settled onto his lap, and wrapped her arms around Merlin’s neck to keep her there.

Merlin’s full lips were as soft as Morgana had always imagined they would be, perhaps even more so. The pressure he applied to her mouth was frustrating in its lightness, and tantalising in its depth. She briefly wondered how many people _he_ had kissed before her, because it seemed as it if was an art-form in which he was thoroughly taught.

Morgana dared herself to slip her tongue between his lips, and when she did she heard Merlin take in a breath, and his chest expanded against her own. She didn’t know which sensation she liked more. She decided it was the former when she felt his tongue slide against hers. She shivered in delight. She had never once thought that a simple kiss could do these things to her.

Merlin’s hands were tracing circles in her back and she arched into his touch, craving more of him. He answered by pulling her flush against him, almost crushing her to his chest. When Morgana felt the desire to rip her long skirt to shreds to be closer to him, she broke away from his mouth.

“Merlin,” she breathed, looking into his eyes.

“Morgana,” he replied, equally as out of breath as she.

“I lied,” she whispered.

His hands gripped her hips, and she tried to ignore the feeling that arose in her because of it.

“What do you mean ‘you lied’?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I am still marrying the lord. I wish I could say I was lying about that. But I am not. I lied about you being my friend, Merlin. You haven’t been a friend for a long time. You are so much more than that and I thought, maybe, that one kiss from you would last me a lifetime. One kiss from the man I really love would make up for a million from the man I do not love at all. You’re not my friend at all, Merlin. I am starting to wonder if you ever were.”

He sucked in a breath at those words, and kissed her softly in response.

“I never in a million years thought I would hear those words from your mouth, my lady.”

Morgana bit her lip. “And now that you have?”

“Now that I have,” he paused to kiss her again. “Now that I have, I cannot allow another man to have you.”

Her heart expanded in her chest. “But how? How can we make this work?”

“We can go back to Ealdor. To my village. I know it won’t be what you’re used to, but Uther cannot force you into a marriage there. It’s not even within the borders of Camelot. It is not within his range of power.”

“But … Arthur. Gwen.”

He shook his head, smiling. “They will understand. They would do the same in our position. I know they would.”

“Is this really happening? Do you really want to run away with me?”

Merlin nodded, laughing. “I have wanted to run away with you from the moment I saw you, Morgana. I just never had the courage to admit it.”

“If you haven’t guessed already, Merlin … I may be in love with you. I may be _very_ in love with you.”

He grinned, pulling her closer. “I _know_ that I am in love with you, my lady. I’ve known for a while now.”

Morgana cried out, burying her face in Merlin’s chest. Perhaps Uther hadn’t brought her doom upon her. Maybe he’d given her the happily ever after that she’d always dreamed of.

**Author's Note:**

> On Tumblr, clotpolesonly requested a fic "Uther finally decided to marry Morgana off to some old lord from another kingdom in a political match and she’s absolutely devastated, but she knows there’s no way to get out of it. She asks Merlin to kiss her because she wants her first kiss to be with a friend rather than someone she doesn’t even know. He does it, of course, cuz he can’t stand seeing her so small and frightened. Then he becomes determined to find a way out of the marriage for her and, of course, he realizes along the way that he doesn’t want her to marry anyone but HIM."  
> And I LOVED the idea, so of course I had to write it. :D


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